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Russian Start-Up Stages Fake Funerals for ‘Stress Therapy’

Kirill Zykov / Moskva News Agency

A Russian start-up is offering its clients the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to arrange their own fake funeral and go through the experience of being buried alive for 3.5 million rubles ($57,119). 

“There is a possibility that after this procedure [the client] will discover new talents, psychic abilities or see success in business,” the start-up’s founder Yekaterina Preobrazhenskaya told the Govorit Moskva radio station. 

A self-proclaimed business coach with more than 130,000 Instagram followers, Preobrazhenskaya announced the new venture on Thursday, describing fake funerals as “a true symbol of fighting for yourself and your own happy future.” 

According to information obtained by Moskvich Magazine, the offer comes in two packages: the “online funeral” and the “full immersion” funeral. 

The first package, which costs 600,000 rubles ($15,635), is advertised as “stress therapy for fears and anxieties” and promises to allow the client to “close chapters” in their lives and undergo “divine healing” and “rising from the ashes.”

Those who opt for the "full immersion" package will be able to go through a full funeral carried out according to their religious preferences.

The client will be placed in a coffin and buried for up to 60 minutes, followed by a "mandatory revival with an all-around revived awareness of their mission.” 

Clients are expected to emerge from the coffin with a renewed “desire to live” and will also be able to keep their coffin as a souvenir. 

“This procedure will allow you to evaluate your life and love it, understand your mission and unlock your potential,” Preobrazhenskaya told Govorit Moskva.

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